An individual from India admitted guilt on Friday to U.S. charges for coordinating an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate a Sikh separatist in New York City, involving a broader scheme to target dissenters by Indian and Canadian authorities. Nikhil Gupta, aged 54, confessed to murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to conduct money laundering.
U.S. prosecutors alleged that Gupta conspired with an Indian government official to eliminate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen and advocate for a sovereign Sikh state in northern India. The Indian government disavowed any involvement in a plot against Pannun, emphasizing it was contrary to official policy.
The revelation of alleged assassination plots against Sikh separatists in the U.S. and Canada has strained relations with India, which denied any connection to such activities. In a separate incident, Hardeep Singh Nijjar was fatally shot in Surrey, B.C., in June 2023, leading former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to suggest Indian government involvement.
Gupta, detained in Brooklyn, N.Y. since his extradition from the Czech Republic in June 2024, is set to be sentenced on May 29. He confessed before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn in Manhattan federal court to arranging a murder in the United States and paying $15,000 to a New York individual to carry out the crime.
Prosecutors revealed that an Indian government official, Vikash Yadav, recruited Gupta in May 2023 to organize Pannun’s assassination. Yadav, an employee of India’s Cabinet Secretariat, collaborated with Gupta in planning the murder and engaging an undercover officer from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as the hitman.
U.S. Attorney for Manhattan, Jay Clayton, condemned Gupta’s actions, stating that Gupta wrongly believed he could eliminate someone in the U.S. without consequences for exercising their right to free speech. Yadav faces similar charges but remains outside U.S. custody, with uncertainty regarding his legal representation.
